Filing for SSA retirement soon? Go to the Benefits tab of www.socialsecurity.gov to learn about benefits and to estimate amounts.

File online when convenient for you or call the SSA national number (1-800-772-1213, TTY 1-800-325-0778) for an appointment.

Either way, you can watch the cat and baseball SSA videos.

Based in Grand Forks, Howard I. Kossover is the Social Security Public Affairs Specialist for North Dakota and western Minnesota. Send general interest questions to him at howard.kossover@ssa.gov. Read his online articles at socialsecurityinfo.areavoices.com.